Ireland and New Zealand commit to continuing collaboration to tackle agriculture emissions
- Foilsithe: 19 Márta 2026
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 19 Márta 2026
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for Food Promotion, New Markets, Research and Development, Noel Grealish TD, and New Zealand Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Trade and Investment, Hon. Todd McClay, have today reaffirmed their commitment to collaboration on scientific innovation to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Minister Grealish highlighted that Joint Research Initiative projects have helped accelerate the understanding of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions:
“Agriculture is at the heart of the Irish and New Zealand economies, and we share the common goal of lowering emissions in pasture-based farming, while supporting farmers to produce more sustainably. During my visit to New Zealand, I was delighted to meet with Minister Todd McClay and agree to the second phase of the Joint Research Initiative that will drive meaningful reductions in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.”
Minister McClay noted,
“New Zealand and Ireland will continue to advance vital research to support the development of tools to give farmers options to tackle agricultural greenhouse gas emissions without reducing production.”
Eleven projects are underway in phase one of the Joint Research Initiative with joint investment of €19.65 million / $34.5 million. Minister Grealish visited a number of these projects during his New Zealand visit. New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries and Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will now identify further projects to progress.
Separately, the Ministers also launched the new 2026-2030 Strategic Plan for the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA).
The Strategic Plan has four priorities: advance scientific research, strengthen capacity and knowledge sharing, build effective collaboration and partnerships, and leverage financial and other resources.
Minister Grealish said:
“The GRA aims to deepen and broaden research efforts in cropping, livestock, and paddy rice. It has brought together researchers from around the globe to collaborate on science and breakthrough solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I am delighted to launch the new Strategic Plan during Ireland’s period as Chair of the GRA with Minister McClay and GRA Special Representative Peter Ettema.”
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
Ireland – New Zealand Joint Research Initiative (JRI)
- The Joint Research Initiative (JRI) was established in 2022 as a three-year pilot. The initiative has strengthened collaboration between funders and researchers, aligned research priorities, and leveraged synergies and investments to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in ruminant production in both countries.
- Over three joint research calls (2022–2024), nearly €20 million / NZ$34 million was invested in 11 collaborative projects involving 15 research organisations across both countries. Projects include:
- improving understanding of rumen microbiology and chemistry to develop novel silage inoculants (eg beneficial bacteria) and to reduce methane emissions
- identifying biometric predictors of methane emissions from milk, meat and rumen to develop low-cost, large-scale screening tools to accelerate genetic gain in low methane ruminants
- refining the accuracy of agricultural emissions to improve national greenhouse gas inventories for New Zealand and Ireland
- developing reliable measures of carbon emissions from drained peatlands under different land management practices and climates
- developing near real time sensors for soil carbon and carbon storage to support farmer management decisions
- The programme supported significant capacity building, including 34 early-career researchers (20 PhDs, 14 postdocs) and additional research staff.
- Funded research has focused on high-impact areas such as methane mitigation technologies, nitrous oxide reduction, soil carbon sequestration, digital innovation, and improved emissions measurement systems.
Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA)
- The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) aims to deepen and broaden evidence-based global mitigation research efforts across agricultural cropping and land-use, livestock systems, and rice cultivation. The aim is to develop breakthrough solutions to help tackle agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and coordinate activities. This includes promoting synergies between adaptation and mitigation efforts.
- New Zealand and Ireland are founding members of the GRA. Both countries continue to play a leading and influential role in the GRA. Ireland and New Zealand are both represented on the Council of the GRA and co-chair the Livestock Research Co-ordination Group (LRG) with the United Kingdom.
- Ireland chairs the GRA from 2025 to June 2026. In June 2025 Ireland hosted the GRA’s Council Meeting. Ireland and the GRA secretariat set an ambitious agenda for the 2025 Council meeting that included agreement on the GRA’s next Strategic Plan (2026-2030)